This osteosynthesis device is designed to compensate for the resection of thoracic ribs, after a surgical intervention, in order to avoid the appearance of deformations of the thoracic wall and to stabilize the latter and thus permit better respiratory functions, while at the same time not adversely affecting the esthetic appearance of the chest.
At the present time, thoracic repair, also called reconstruction, is performed using the equipment and implants provided for treating rib fractures following serious trauma, including the splints for supporting bone repairs.
The implants disclosed in the documents RU2145814, RU2166292, DE3808937, U.S. Pat. No. 2,436,303 and US2005/0216011 use rigid transverse bars or splints which are arranged in front of the thoracic wall and which are connected thereto by various fastening means, for example by screws screwed into the bone or by claws stapled to the bone. In their application to the reconstruction of the thoracic cage, these implants are difficult to fit in place, form esthetically unpleasing protrusions on the front of the chest and, in particular, can come loose from the rib, with the risk of migrating and causing perforations to the organs in their proximity.
The implant described in the document US2008/0082101, although more suitable for the reconstruction of the thoracic wall, is composed of a rectilinear splint, on the ends of which claws are fixed by pins or screws, the claws themselves being clamped on the ends of the resected ribs that are to be joined. The rigidity of the splints and of the fixing claws means that they cannot be used in all cases of rib reconstruction and, in order to adapt their size and to shape them, it is necessary to use an ancillary device which, although not complex, affects the final cost of the reconstruction.
Moreover, the fixation of the implants by claws gripped by clamps on the rib injures the latter and has the disadvantage that the stresses transmitted to the implant are concentrated at the grip points, thereby intensifying these injuries and the pain caused to the patient.
The document JP4156840 describes an implant composed of two textile sheets of polyester fibers that are connected by longitudinal seams to each other and around the rib ends delimiting the zone that is to be reconstructed. The tubular sheath thus formed is lined by a mixture of materials bound by a resin. Although each end of the sheath is perfectly adapted by construction to the shape and the dimensions of the rib end on which it is formed, the connection to the rib is insufficient and is unable to transmit to this rib the stresses that it receives. As a result, the implant thus formed is a means for lining the space between the two parts of a resected rib but cannot be considered as a reconstruction tool replacing the resected rib section and transmitting to each part of the rib the forces and stresses experienced by the other part.
The object of the invention is to overcome these disadvantages by making available an osteosynthesis device which is especially adapted to thoracic reconstruction, is easy to use and does not apply localized and damaging stresses to the ribs, both during implantation and when in use, and whose final configuration does not in any way affect the esthetic aspect of the thoracic wall.